


It Started at 2

by LiamLordofTrash



Series: Twobats Series [1]
Category: Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: Crack, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings, some serious stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-27 09:32:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18736345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiamLordofTrash/pseuds/LiamLordofTrash
Summary: Through a series of more or less fortunate events Bruce Wayne finds a way to be around his former best friend Harvey Dent. If only Twoface and Batman could stop ruining it for them.Finally got past my procrastination by making myself write it all before I posted anything, so a chapter or two each day is coming out.





	1. Chapter 1

Harv had a plan. He knew that it would be obvious that he was going to rob the bank on twenty second street on February, 22 at 2:22 am, so he decided to hide out when he did and  wait for Bats to arrive before he actually robbed the bank. He hung around inside, hiding, until finally Bats arrived at 2:22. 

“Harvey!” he yelled, looking around, confused for a moment.  _ Perfect.  _ He ran up behind the Bat and shoved him back, pulling his gun. Batman paused.

“I hope you’re ready Bats,” he said, pulling his coin out and flipping it. He smiled and then looked down. His stomach dropped. “Good heads?” he said out loud. Oh shit. “Good heads…” He muttered. 

“So…” Batman began. 

“Shit,” Harv said. He turned and ran out the door, knowing that he couldn’t kill Batman, not this time. He ran out and into an alley. The Bat had him cornered, and Harv was left with nowhere to go. He knew nothing he had done before would allow him to escape. Maybe someone else’s trick? Who escaped the Bat most? Selina always seemed to get away. What is it she did again? 

“Stop right there Harvey,” Batman said. He pulled out a gun, and waited for what he knew was coming. Batman would smack the gun out of his hand, knowing that he can because Harvey can’t kill him. Then he would grab Harv’s wrist, giving him a chance to get close and do.. What Selina would. Bats did exactly what he knew that he would, and Harv grabbed the collar of his cape and pulled him as close as he could, kissing the Batman. Batman paused and Harv let go, running away. He looked back a little and noticed that Batman was still just standing there, with no idea what to do. He kept running, into the other alleys and out of the way of the Bat. It worked! 

 

Bruce paused. What had just happened? He tried to run over the events again. Somewhat normal Harvey incident, but with a slight surprise to divert his attention, the coin landed up -protecting him from death- and then he took Harvey’s gun and… Harvey just kissed him. Just pulled him close and kissed him. Harvey had done that before. Before Twoface. 

It was at a business thing, some sort of celebration, maybe New Years. Bruce wasn’t paying much attention, someone, one of his enemies was out again and doing something. Harvey was tired and venting and he kept drinking at the party, more and more. Bruce tried to get him to slow down a bit and he was already buzzed. He smiled and laughed when Bruce tried to tell him something serious. Harvey usually wasn’t so giggly or silly when he drank, usually he cried or tried to fight something. He cuddled close to Bruce, laying on his side. Bruce tried to get Harvey to stand back up. He was a lawyer at the time, but he still needed to maintain his image. Bruce tried to lift Harvey up and Harvey wrapped his arms around Bruce. 

“Harvey-” Bruce began. Harvey laid on him again.

“Br _ uc _ e,” Harvey said softly. “You’re so comfy.” 

“Harvey, come on,” Bruce said softly. Harvey turned his head and looked at Bruce for a minute before trying to kiss him. Bruce had been surprised and hadn’t realized what Harvey was doing and almost shoved him back. By the time he understood what was happening Harvey had already kissed him. He gently pushed Harvey back and wrapped an arm around him to keep his friend by his side. Harvey kept laying across him and kissing his cheek still, and Bruce tried to manage him. He wasn’t sure if Harvey had any sort of genuine interest in him or if it was just that he was drunk. That confusion had been suddenly reignited. 

This time, it hadn’t been Harvey kissing  _ Bruce.  _ Instead it was Twoface kissing Batman. Bruce paused. He knew Harvey had multiple personalities. There was Harvey, Twoface or Harv, and lastly the Judge. The Judge never much came around anymore, and the Arkham staff were working their hardest to stop another splinter in his already fractured mind. But which one had kissed him? He could absolutely count out the Judge, as he was never involved in criminal behavior. Harvey and Harv however both had been involved in some crime, though Harvey seemed to be pushed by Harv, becoming conscious halfway through a crime and having to attempt to finish it and escape or just be taken to prison. Harvey didn’t start a crime but he had finished it. 

Bruce headed back home, to his Batcave, where he pondered it more. He could probably find Harvey if he looked around but for someone who stuck out so much it was hard to find him. Alfred came down, bringing him coffee.

“Are you brooding again, Master Wayne?” asked Alfred.

“Something unusual happened today,” he said.

“Oh?”

“I had Harvey cornered-”

“February 22nd,” Alfred noted.

“And instead of trying to fight me he just kissed me and then ran.” 

“Kissed and ran? Sounds like Selina,” Alfred noted. There was a pause. 

“That’s… exactly what it was like.”

“He probably got that from her, copied it to escape.”  Bruce sighed.

“Of course they would both go and do that,” Bruce said, drinking the coffee and yawning. “If I want a relationship with them they either ghost me or try to kill me or flirt with me then try to kill me.”  Alfred paused for a moment, processing.

“Did you want a relationship with Harvey?” asked Alfred.

“Of course, I want my best friend back.” 

“That’s not what I meant, Bruce,” Alfred said. Bruce realized what he’d meant. “You must be tired not to understand that, Mr. World’s Greatest Detective,” Alfred teased him. Bruce chuckled and rubbed his eyes. 

“I don’t know,” Bruce said. “I mean…”

“I honestly suspected you did for a long time,” Alfred said, pouring more coffee. “But Harvey always seemed interested in you so I assumed that you weren’t interested in Harvey.” 

“Harvey was interested in me?” Bruce asked. He always somewhat enjoyed finding out gossip about himself, but usually it was from newspapers and totally fake. Bruce trusted anything Alfred said, however. He was usually right, and if he wasn’t right in the moment he was right later. 

“Absolutely,” Alfred said. “For a long time. Would always come over when you were in college together, followed you around everywhere, went to every event you were at,” Alfred noted. The rest of the night Bruce looked through every attendance record at meaningless party he went to and every single time there was Harvey Dent. He always sighed those attendance records too. Bruce didn’t even sign those things. Harvey had been so tight laced and went by the book. He followed every little rule, even signing the stupid attendance book. He missed Harvey. He started looking through old pictures of himself and Harvey, from when they were in college. Some were framed and were spread across the house. Others he kept in a shoebox. He had a lot of pictures in shoeboxes, of various  people, at various happier times. He had some of Dick, of Jason, of his parents, of Barbara, of Tim. So many more people. He got a camera from Alfred for Christmas one year, and hadn’t stopped taking pictures since then. He loved to take pictures of everyone when they were happy. Sometimes it irritated the others, especially Jason, but Bruce knew how quickly it could all be taken away. He looked through the pictures of Harvey, not quite realizing that he was gently rubbing his thumb across the pictures. They weren’t of anything important. They sat at a football game, they were studying, they were at a conference, at a bar. He hadn’t realized how much Harvey meant to him until he lost him. He sighed. He hadn’t realized how much he meant to Harvey either. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I saw this had two reads and couldn't stop myself, so now two chapters, two reads, and the two fetish is appeased

There was a hit out on Bruce. For a  _ lot  _ of money. But still it was hard to convince Harvey. Harv and Harvey were co-conscious more and more, and Harvey was constantly complaining as Harv went along with Cobblepot's plan to break into Wayne Manor. The coin had landed Bad Heads up. They had to. They all followed Cobblepot to Wayne Manor. His mind instantly went to Bruce, to how Bruce had been there to help them, tried to help them constantly. He never gave up on them. Cobblepot and his goons got into the building, Harv following closely. He walked through the building, knowing Bruce’s alarms would be going off. Harv had some of Harvey’s memories, mostly before the attack. Harvey called it an accident, Harv called it an attack. He caught the reflection of the bad side of his face. They didn’t look like they’d been in an accident. The scarring was too perfect, too crisply through the middle of their face. It had been an attack. Regardless, he recalled small things before it. He remembered when Harvey had snuck into Bruce’s house through a window, when they were teenagers and it was late at night and he didn’t want to wake Alfred. He remembered the alarm system.He flipped the coin. Good heads. He decided not to tell Cobblepot about them. Alfred and Bruce would be in the safe room. He didn’t even flip, just deciding to keep that to himself as well. He turned and noticed a picture. It was of Bruce’s parents. Then the next one was of them in college together. Harv felt himself be shoved aside as Harvey took over. 

Harvey rarely managed to force himself to the front like Harv did. He looked at the picture, from himself when he was young and his face was undamaged, when he was widely regarded as a handsome and more importantly moral temple of a man. When he was still close to Bruce. He looked at Bruce. He looked so happy. Bruce was looking at him instead of the camera. He touched the picture frame, straightening it slightly. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t hurt Bruce. He knew Harv would at  _ least  _ want to flip again for it, but he couldn’t bring himself to entertain the thought. There was no chance he was going to do it. Cobblepot could offer all the money in the world. He knew how to get around  Wayne Manor, so he had an advantage. He ran through the rooms and halls to where he knew some golf clubs were. He didn’t want to kill anyone, but he would absolutely beat the shit out of them. He ran through the halls, heading to where he knew the safe room was. He then saw one of Cobblepot’s henchmen.

“Found anything Twoface?” the man asked. He hadn’t done anything innately wrong but Harvey just snapped, running up and hitting the man as hard as he possibly could, knocking him out. Harvey paused for a second, and checked the man’s pulse. He was alive. He lifted the unconscious man and laid him like he was sitting. He then continued to run to the safe room. Through the dining room, past that study with the mount of a bear, past the grandfather clock, and to what looked like a normal plank in the wall. He checked around the building, making sure that no one else was in the room. He remembered how he had knocked on Bruce’s window to sneak into Wayne Manor at night when he had been young. He knocked on the panel of the safe room in that same way and waited, checking again and again for any unwanted guests. 

“Bruce?” he said softly. Then the door opened. Alfred looked up at him. “Alfred!” Alfred pulled him into the safe room.

“Master Harvey, what’s happening?” Alfred asked.

“Someone’s put a hit out on Bruce,” said Harvey. 

“Well what are you doing here?”

“Beating Cobblepot’s men with a golf club and trying to warn you,” Harvey said. “Though the coin told Harv to attempt the hit.. I couldn’t do it.” There was a pause.

“Bruce is in a different safe room,” Alfred explained. There was another pause and Harvey knew Alfred was thinking about something. “Master Harvey.. May I ask a question?”

“Of course,” Harvey said.

“Was it you or your mental counterpart who kissed Bruce the other day?” 

“Kissed Bruce? I don’t think either of us have,” Harvey said, confused. They hadn’t kissed anyone at all recently. Except… “The only person I can remember us kissing at all recently is Batman. We were trying to escape and we saw Catwoman do it. It worked though,” Harvey said, kind of laughing. “When… When did we kiss Bruce?” asked Harvey. Alfred seemed to have no idea what to say. “We do have these memory gaps sometimes-” said Harvey. “Because of uh..”

“I figured you would. Bruce didn’t mention when you kissed him, just that one of you did.” 

“Ah.. Well… I don’t know who did… It definitely wasn’t the Judge, probably Harv or me.” There was a long pause. “Alfred where’s the other safe room?” 

“Master Harvey-”

“I need to find Bruce-” he started to panic. He had to get to Bruce something was wrong. He started to get up, he had to find Bruce, right then. Alfred grabbed his coat.

“Bruce is coming to us-”

“He’s coming to  _ us?  _ Then he’ll put himself in danger!”

“Harvey he’ll be fine-”

“There’s tons of them-”

“Harvey,” Alfred grasped his arm. “It’s alright stay here.” Harvey sat back. 

 

Bruce donned the cowl and ran through the house, hitting the henchmen. He ran through and attacked them all, and moved through the house strategically. Alfred would be in the safe room. He had to get Alfred out and get out. He made his way to the safe room and found an unconscious henchman. Alfred must have knocked him out. He knocked on the safe room the way they already planned on. Alfred opened the door and Twoface followed him out. Bruce was stunned again. What was Harvey doing here? He had a golf club  _ he  _ had likely used on the henchman. 

“Let’s go,” Bruce said.

“We can’t go- we’ve got to find Bruce,” said Harvey. Bruce paused. He was Batman then. Alfred knew what was happening. But Harvey.. 

“You go that way and search for Bruce, I’ll protect Alfred and get him out of here.” 

“Sounds good.”

“Then I’ll come back for you and Bruce.” He took Alfred out of the building. “Are you alright, Alfred?” Bruce asked. 

“I’m fine. I made a mistake,” he said. “However.” 

“What happened?” asked Bruce.

“I asked Harvey whether he or his other personality kissed you, but I asked which of them kissed  _ Bruce. _ ” 

“And?”

“Which ever one it was kissed  _ Batman. _ ” Alfred got in the car, which was safe enough as it was bulletproof. Bruce got in as well, changing out of the Batsuit. He then headed back into the house.

“Bruce!?” Harvey yelled. “Bruce where are you?!”

“Harvey! I’m here-” Bruce said. Harvey hugged him tight to his chest. “Let’s go.” 

“Wait- we need to find Batman.”

“What?” Bruce asked.

“Batman- he came to help and took Alfred to the car.”

“Look, Harvey I’m sure Batman is fine-” Harvey flipped his coin. It landed good heads up again.

“No, he helped us we have to find him,” Harvey said. Bruce didn’t know what to do. 

“Harvey please, just come with me-” Bruce began.

“You go to the car with Alfred, where it’s safe, we’ll find Batman,” Harvey said. His voice was more Twoface and less Harvey at that point and Twoface flipped his coin. There was no changing his mind. Bruce considered running back out to the car and changing again but then Harvey would want to go find Bruce. “It’ll be alright Bruce,” Harvey said, voice his own again. Bruce looked towards him. Harvey hugged him tightly, and then ran back through the house. Bruce walked towards the car, then he paused. 

“Harvey!” Bruce yelled. “Batman just left!” Harvey ran back over to him.

“He left?”

“Drove away- I think he’s taking those people in or getting the police.” Harvey paused.

“That doesn’t sound right… We’ve fought him before, Bruce- something’s wrong-”

“Harvey just come to the car with me and Alfred-” 

“Something’s wrong, Bruce-” 

“Harvey come with us,” Bruce said, trying to drag him. 

“Bruce I have to-”

“Harvey, I’m scared!” Bruce said. He had to figure out some way to get Harvey in the damn car. Even if that meant lying to him more.

“You’re scared?” Harvey asked, completely breaking away from Twoface’s voice. “Bruce-”

“The guns- the violence- in my  _ own house! _ ” Bruce yelled. “I’m scared Harvey, and you calm me down and I  _ want you with me. _ ” Harvey glanced at his coin, shoved it in his pocket, and grabbed Bruce’s hand, leading him outside. Bruce decided he would have to let Harvey lead him around to show Harvey he was really ‘scared’. Harvey ran out to the car. 

“That the car?” he asked.

“Yes,” Bruce said, running up to it with Harvey. Alfred let them in. They settled in the car. 

“Now what?” asked Harvey softly.

“We’ll have to wait here for the police to come, to make sure we’re safe,” Bruce said. Harvey seemed worried by that, but remarkably he didn’t leave. Harvey wrapped an arm around Bruce, and paused.

“You’re safe. I’ll stay here for you.” Alfred and Bruce settled in, Bruce not moving away from Harvey. It was really Harvey. It was nice to have him there. After a long time Bruce had drifted off. Then he woke, still on Harvey’s chest. Harvey hadn’t moved. He could hear police sirens and then saw that a few tears trickled down Harvey’s face. 

“Harvey? Harvey are you okay?” Bruce asked, putting a hand to his face. 

“I’m fine, Bruce.”

“Harvey-”

“I just don’t want to go back to Arkham,” said Harvey softly. Bruce sighed. He wished that Harvey didn’t have to but he kept breaking out. “This is just my life now.”

“Harvey, it can get better.” 

“Bruce, it’s dissociate identity disorder,” said Harvey, nearly crying again. “It won’t ever go away.. I’m never going to get rid of this, and there’s nothing I can  _ do _ ,” Harvey snapped.

“Harvey, you won’t get rid of it but there are tons of people with DID who have normal lives and jobs. You can be one of them, you just have to work through this, and  _ stay  _ in therapy.” 

“You really think so?” asked Harvey softly.

“I know you can.” 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce was dropping off the Joker again. It was odd. It had been nearly a month and he had heard nothing from Harvey.  He went to the cell, seeing Harvey still there. He was still working on therapy. Bruce was proud of him. He touched the cell door. 

“I want to speak to Har- Twoface,” Bruce said to a guard. 

“Uh.. Alright,” The guard said cautiously. Bruce walked in, Batman cape flowing, as Harvey looked up at him.

“Get outta here Bat! I haven’t done anything!” he snapped, angry, but with an odd pleading quality to his voice. 

“That’s not why I’m here.” He sat down across from Harvey. 

“What are you here for then?” asked Harvey. 

“I want to let you know that uh.. You’re doing well.. Wanted to make sure you’re alright.” 

“What?” Harvey asked, genuinely confused.

“I want to… I genuinely care about you,” Bruce said. “All of you,” he added abruptly. Harvey looked at him.

“What… Bats? Why do you? I don’t get it.”

“I think you… I just…” He was Batman, not Bruce Wayne. He probably wasn’t supposed to care about them. “I devote my whole life to chasing you down and sending you back here- I have to care some.” 

“You think Arkham is nice? You think this is a good place? There were two of us the first time we came here,” he said, Twoface voice snarling through the half burnt lips. “Now there’s three of us! Last shrink we had put so much pressure on us- so much pressure on Harvey he broke down again! I didn’t realize it for a long time, till Harvey explained it to me. Other guy still doesn’t know about the two of us. They broke us down! Made us worse! They’ve never done anything else!” he snapped. Bruce paused. He had to get Harvey out of there and get him a real therapist. He needed to take care of him. But he couldn’t. Harvey seemed to notice he seemed upset. “It’s alright… They’re getting better I guess,” sighed Twoface. 

“They are?” he asked softly.

“Yeah,” sighed Twoface. “The new shrink helps I guess.” Bruce smiled slightly. “What do you want?”

“I already told you,” he said. 

“Alright but… I just don’t buy it. Why do you care about  _ us? _ No one cares about us.” 

“I… I mean… You know other people care about you and Harvey.” 

“Yeah? Name one.”

“Bruce Wayne,” Bruce said. There was a pause. 

“I guess so.”

“And I care about you, I really do,” he said, putting a hand on Harvey’s shoulder. Harvey smiled up at him.

“Thanks.. Bats.” 

 

Bruce came to Arkham as Bruce Wayne next. He convinced them that since he was a huge sponsor of the asylum, he should be allowed to talk to Harvey a bit more than was usually allowed. He sat in the chair, looking through the glass and holding the phone. Harvey sat on the other side. 

“Hey there Harvey,” Bruce said. “How are you?” 

“I’m alright,” Harvey- real Harvey- said. He looked tired, and Bruce understood. “How are you, Bruce?” 

“I’m doing well,” he paused. “I’m so glad you’ve stayed here... “ He thought about what Harvey had said last time. “Are the therapists helping?”

“The old ones didn’t… But the knew one is nice. She tries to help.” Bruce knew damn well he wasn’t supposed to, but also knew that no one would stop him. He stuck a hand through the box where people were allowed to give items to inmates and Harvey stuck his hand as well. They could very well get their hands stuck but Bruce didn’t care. Harvey held onto his hand as best as he could. 

“Harvey, please keep working.. I know you’re probably worried about what you’ll do when you get out but… Come with me Harvey. When you can.” He nodded. Bruce had to talk about something. “Anything interesting happen recently?”

“Uh.. The other day the Batman came to visit us. Me and Harvey,” Twoface said, clearly in his own voice. “Bats says he cares about us, isn’t it crazy?” Bruce paused, but decided that he wasn’t being belligerent so he would deal with Twoface. 

“What do you think of Batman?” Bruce asked, grinning internally.

“Bats is… he’s alright..” Twoface said, leaning back. “Harvey thinks he has a nice ass.” Bruce laughed a bit at that one. 

“Alright so… Harvey is Harvey Dent, right? Like… You’re an alter, right?” Bruce asked. 

“Yeah, guess I am.”

“What’s your point?” asked Bruce. “Like that sounds stupid but-”

“I protect him. When Harvey was little and dad would beat the shit out of us I would take it and try to snap back at him when Harvey couldn’t.. That’s why I don’t take shit from anybody- because we’re big now and we’re strong enough to fight back. I won’t take shit from these stupid bastards, I won’t take shit from law men, and I won’t take shit from the Bat.” 

“So.. What’s your name?” asked Bruce. 

“I.. Sounds dumb, but I go by Harv.”

“It’s not the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, I mean Edward Nygma is the Riddler’s real name so,” Bruce said. Harv sort of smiled. “How… did you know Harvey likes Batman’s ass?” Bruce asked.

“Uh I can hear him sometimes, thinking. He can hear me too. Sometimes we can’t hear each other though.” 

“Huh… Do you know if there are… more of you?” asked Bruce.

“I think there’s probably more of us.. The doctors think so too. I don’t want more of us.” 

“Yeah,” Bruce said. “I understand why you wouldn’t… It’s been nice talking to you two,” Bruce said, getting up. 

“Oh… I’ll see you later,” Harv said. “Wait- give us a second.” He tried to focus, leaning back and closing his eyes. 

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to switch with Harvey so he can tell you goodbye,” Harv said, kind of softly. 

“Can he hear you? Or you him? Like now?” Bruce asked. 

“Oh.. Yeah,” Harv said. 

“So.. uhm.. Can he..? Hear what I’m saying?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah,” Harv said.

“I’ll see you later Harvey,” Bruce said, gently touching the glass, trying to look into his eyes, to see if he could see some Harvey in there. He couldn’t, but oddly enough the very different person he saw there looked marveled by Bruce just being there. Harvey had looked at him like that once. Bruce kind of missed that look on his face. 

 

The next time he was there he was dumping the Riddler and Scarecrow back in Arkham, as Batman once again. He walked in, to visit Harvey again. When he looked at the way the man sat he knew it was Harv and not Harvey. Well, he guessed Harv needed attention too. A guard told him he had a visitor and Harv looked genuinely happy. Bruce had never seen him quite so happy. Then he walked in and Harv went back to normal. 

“Twoface,” he said, not exactly wanting to say the name. 

“Bats.” 

“You looked happy.” 

“I thought you were someone else.” There was a long pause as he stared at a wall and seemed to zone out.

“Harvey?” Bruce asked. He looked back, and he noticed pretty quickly that it was Harvey. 

“Batman- Because  _ someone  _ told Bruce my opinion of you- Harv thinks Bruce Wayne is super handsome and wants to-” Bruce almost laughed and then they suddenly switched back. 

“Harvey thinks you have a fat ass-” Harv snapped, clearly angry at Harvey. Bruce had to hold back laughter at that. 

“Harv wants to kiss every inch of Bruce Wayne’s-” Bruce legitimately couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that one and they both just paused for a long time. 

“Harv? Harvey? Are you two alright?” Bruce asked. 

“They have been detained,” said a new, much more stoic voice. 

“Uhm.. Who… Are you?” Bruce asked. He was quickly removed from the room, not being allowed to visit again that day. 

 

When he came back again as Batman it was clear he was talking to Harv. There was a pause.

“Hey Bats,” he began.

“Yes?” Bruce said.

“Have you ever really… Really cared about somebody? Like real romantic like, but you don’t know..  how to tell them anything, ya know?” 

“I mean… Somewhat?”

“Look, don’t go telling people all this,” said Harv, “But… When we were little, Harvey had this big thing for Bruce Wayne, right? Like the biggest crush on Bruce Wayne ever and I never understood and I just… I didn’t get it. I didn’t like anybody. But… Bruce Wayne is just so… Wow… Like I feel real dumb because when Harvey was a lawyer and stuff we could talk to him but now… We’re this.”

“Well he visits you, doesn’t he?” asked Bruce, trying to figure out how to tell Harv right then that he  _ was  _ Bruce Wayne. 

“Yeah… He does.. But  _ we  _ couldn’t really.. Actually.. Be with Bruce in any meaningful way. Like I get what Harvey was trying to say the first time around- like about Bruce and the whole ‘I just wanna be there with him even if he’s with someone else’ thing. I just.. Wish we could stay near him and be close.. His friend like we were.. God even worse he’s so… Wow and we look like this… Harvey was handsome.. Now…” Bruce wanted to yank the Batman cowl off and just hold him close and let them both know that Harvey was handsome and Bruce  _ could  _ love them- but he also knew that would put his identity at risk. He had to find some other way to let Harvey and Harv know. He knew who to talk to. 


	4. Chapter 4

“Selina,” Bruce began, “you’re good with love stuff, right?” He had convinced Selina over with wine and good company. She enjoyed his company and wine, so it worked.   
“No,” she said. “But I can tell you how to get into someone’s pants.”  
“Well.. Social things, right?”  
“Go on,” she said.  
“How could I.. alright, so there’s someone who’s interested in me.”  
“Alright,” she said, grinning slightly.   
“And I’m interested in him-”  
“Hold on,” Selina interrupted. “Him?”   
“Well, I.. Yes I like women but also-”  
“Good for you,” she said, drinking more wine. “What’s this lucky boy’s name?” There was a pause.   
“Harvey,” said Bruce softly.  
“Harvey what?” Selina asked, leaning forwards.   
“Dent.” He knew he said it way too quietly for her to understand.  
“What?” she asked, louder.   
“Harvey Dent,” he said finally.   
“You and your villains,” she sighed. “So what’s the deal with Harvey?”  
“Alright so I thought that his other personalities would hate me and we wouldn’t be able to be together and I didn’t understand how there he still is- but I understand now that he’s still there and also his other personality- well, one of them- Harv likes me too.”  
“Nice, nice, what’s the problem?”  
“Well, they told this all to me.”  
“Wonderful.”  
“But as Batman.”  
“What?”  
“They told this to Batman. Like Harv and Harvey told Batman they’re both interested in Bruce Wayne romantically.”   
“So you’re not supposed to know.”  
“And so long as they’re in Arkham I can’t tell them I’m Batman.”   
“So you need to let Harvey and Harv know that you want to be with them too, but without them realizing your secret identity or you having to compromise it.”   
“That’s the problem,” Bruce sighed.   
“Alright so… They’ll need to be out of the asylum…”  
“No.”  
“Well damn,” Selina said. “Alright then… What if we… Alright so as Bruce Wayne you’re Harvey’s best friend, right?”  
“Yes.”  
“So then say something as Batman that will give him a hint you’re Bruce Wayne.”   
“You’re so smart, Selina.”   
“Oh I know.” 

 

Harv waited for Bruce to come back but got Batman again. He sat there, wondering, had he done something? He always did something, he did something stupid every day. He had done something and he drove Bruce away. That’s why he hadn’t come to see them. He sighed and looked up to Batman. Harvey wouldn’t have driven Bruce away. Harvey was good at keeping Bruce around.   
“Oh.. Harv?” Batman asked, sitting down.  
“Whadya want Bats?” At least Bats liked to talk to him.   
“Can I talk to Harvey for a minute?” Why did everybody love Harvey!?  
“What do you need Harvey for?” snapped Harv.   
“I just want to talk to him for a while-”  
“Why? What’s wrong with me?” God, everyone loved Harvey, but everyone hated him. Harvey didn’t even like him and he dealt with most of the trauma and the beatings and their dad yelling at them for him. He fought off doctors and nurses and their family and had even had to fight off Bruce to protect them both. Harv tried to protect Harvey but Harvey saw his protection as aggression. It was an aggressive world they lived in. Sure he was aggressive too, but no one tried to hurt him. They still tried to use Harvey. Isley had attacked Harvey when he was still trying to repress Harv and Isley tried to use them again later. Harv protected him that time. It made Harvey a bit more accepting of his help. He wanted to protect Harvey and protect Bruce. Harv asked the question, but he already knew a thousand different things that were wrong with him.   
“I want to talk to you later, I just want to talk to Harvey about something important first.”   
“Can’t talk to me about important things?”   
“This is just a Harvey thing-”  
“We have the same body, we have largely the same life-”  
“Do you have similar memories of Bruce Wayne? Like from when you were young?”  
“Yeah? Oh God- did something happen to Bruce? Is that why you wanna talk to Harvey?”   
“No- Bruce is fine.”   
“What is it about Bruce? Is he okay? Like emotionally- was it one of those like seven kids he has? Are his kids okay?”   
“Everyone is okay- I just need to tell you something about Bruce-”   
“Wait… Did you tell Bruce about..?” Harv was mortified. Batman fucking told him. Oh God Bruce would be disgusted. Bruce liked Harvey, sure but no one liked Harv- he was the problem, Bruce probably hated him- Batman told him.   
“I- look Harv-”  
“Was he upset?”  
“No!” Batman said finally.   
“He’s not upset?”  
“No- he- I..” Batman sat down next to Harv, weirdly close, and leaned to him to whisper something in his ear. It seemed bizarre as Batman never had an issue talking before that day. “Everything you tell me, you tell Bruce Wayne, the same way that what you know, Harvey knows.” Harv paused for a minute, waiting for his two brain cells to find each other in the abyss of his brain and rub together.   
“You… Also.. Have dissociative identity disorder?” Harv asked, somewhat aware that he was wrong but also unable to think of anything better.  
“No, that was a bad example-” Batman rubbed his forehead.   
“Oh.” Harv realized what he meant. Bruce Wayne was Batman. Wait- Bruce Wayne was Batman? “That explains that one day when Penguin’s henchmen.. Like Harvey kept trying to go back for you and for you.. And..” Oh shit he had already told Bruce how he felt. It was a social situation, not a dangerous one. So this was a job for Harvey. 

Harvey had only been co-concious for half of the conversation and was left only with parts, but the moment that Harv had realized that any personal relationship was affected Harvey knew he was going to try to switch. Harvey just wished Harv wasn’t so good at jumping out or hiding away so he didn’t have to deal with that. He sighed. Bruce was trying to talk to Harv for a moment.  
“It’s me now Bruce,” Harvey told him. Bruce paused.   
“Probably for the best you don’t call me that while I’m in costume until you live with me.” That was much more interesting to Harvey than Harv’s issue. Harvey was equally, if not more attracted to Bruce, sure, but he had dealt with the emotions that came with being around Bruce. That was on Harv.   
“Live with you?” Harvey asked.  
“I mean I sort of offered it but I genuinely want you to come with me, to live with me so you can get on your feet-”  
“Bru-Bat- I just, I can’t-”  
“Harvey I have such a big house with all these empty rooms,” Bruce said softly. “I just want you there.” Harvey couldn’t help but smile softly, to think of living with Bruce. When they were kids he wished he could just live with Bruce instead of going home.   
“I’m sorry if the others are troublesome-”  
“I mean I think Harv is warming up to me,” Bruce said. From secondhand embarrassment Harvey blushed. “But uhm… A while ago when I was here and you two were fighting back and forth telling me all sorts of things, uhm someone sort of… Took over.. A third.”   
“Christopher,” Harvey said softly.  
“What? He has a name?”  
“We’ve had to work on integration.. That’s our current goal.. We’re doing good, as a system. We had to gather around, get everyone together.. That’s when me and Harv really got to see him.”   
“What’s Christopher’s deal?”  
“You’d know him better as the Judge.”   
“I.. Was afraid it was him.” Harvey knew that Bruce, or well, Batman, had dealt with the Judge as a vigilante. “What..?”  
“He blames Harv for it.”  
“What?”  
“He blames Harv for our abuse.. I don’t know what he is exactly, I’m the host, Harv is a protector, and then.. There’s him.”  
“Christopher.. Was the name of… Of your father,” Bruce said softly.  
“I know… They say it’s common..”   
“What is he like?”  
“He’s older than us, and more stoic,” Harvey began. “He really hates Harv. He’s aggressive towards other rogues and he has hurt some of them before.. Not terribly, he’s just rough with them, shoves them around.. He’s nicer to civilians and doctors but he never lets them get close.”  
“Are you older or is Harv?” asked Bruce.  
“We’re the same age,” Harvey said. “Which is kind of rare but we sort of do everything in twos and together. Though I remember when we were younger we were twenty-two before we were physically and later than we were.. That’s all stopped.”  
“What’s with the two thing?” asked Bruce.  
“It’s an obsession thing,” Harvey said. “I don’t know why.” Bruce nodded. “How have you been?”  
“Alright… had to hunt down the Riddler again, he.. I mean I’m sure you know what the Riddler does,” he laughed. “How.. Has your recovery been?”  
“They think we’ll be out of the asylum soon… But there is something they’ve wanted to do to make sure we don’t become Twoface again.”   
“What is it Harvey?” Bruce asked.  
“Facial reconstruction,” he said softly.   
“Ah.. Alright.. Harvey if you need help with money-”  
“What if it doesn’t go right, Bruce?” Harvey said softly.  
“What?”  
“What if I end up with a completely ruined face?” Harvey looked at the ground. Bruce grabbed his shoulder.   
“I will be there for you if that happens. No matter what happens, Harvey.” That was all he needed to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could make this longer but I make things too long already, plus at four there's two sets of two chapters! Hope you all enjoyed.


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